'I assumed it was a pulled muscle': The terrible moment Lisa, 46, learned her agonising back pain was breast cancer

• One in six women with breast cancer have symptoms other than a raised lump
• These can include swollen or sore arms, breathlessness, weight loss or back pain
• One in eight women are diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime

Like many people, Lisa Harvey was used to the occasional twinge in her back. 

But three years ago, she experienced pain which was so intense that, at times, it took her breath away.

‘It came on gradually, starting as a nagging pain just below my right shoulder blade, but soon built up into a constant throbbing sensation — as if someone had pressed a hot needle into my back,’ says the deputy registrar of marriages and deaths, from Cardiff. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4851764/The-moment-learned-pain-breast-cancer.html

New treatment for early breast cancer that has fewer side effects

Targeting tumours directly with radiotherapy is as successful as treating the whole breast

• Women could be treated effectively and with less unwelcome changes to breasts
• Treatment is easy to administer with existing radiotherapy machines on the NHS
• Experts welcomed results as 'major step' in improving patients' quality of life

A breakthrough treatment for early stage breast cancer destroys the disease with fewer side effects than the usual approach, trials show.

Targeting tumours directly with radiotherapy is as successful as treating the whole breast, the research led by Cambridge University found.

It means women could be treated just as effectively but experience fewer unwelcome changes to their breasts.

The treatment is easy to administer with existing radiotherapy machines available on the NHS, meaning it would be simple to roll it out across the UK. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4755360/New-treatment-breast-cancer-fewer-effects.html

Statins slash breast cancer death rates

Major study shows 3p pills can cut women's risk of dying by a remarkable 40%

• Researchers believe the 3p-a-day pills dramatically boost survival rates
• They say in future statins  will routinely be used to treat the illness
• Findings will be unveiled at the world’s largest cancer conference this weekend

Statins can cut the risk of dying from breast cancer by 40 per cent, a major study has found.

Researchers believe the 3p-a-day pills dramatically boost survival rates by halting the growth of tumours.

They say that in future, statins – which are taken to lower cholesterol – will routinely be used to treat breast cancer alongside surgery, chemotherapy and other drugs.

The findings will be unveiled at the world’s largest cancer conference this weekend.Almost 200,000 women with breast cancer were involved in the study, which did not analyse whether statins can also help prevent the disease. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4567880/Statins-slash-breast-cancer-death-rates-remarkable-40.html

Test to predict likelihood of breast cancer relapse could help thousands: Women at high risk would be given drugs for longer after surgery and chemotherapy

• Test predicts how likely it is that breast cancer will return to sufferers 
• Those at high risk would be urged to take preventative drugs for five years 
• Oncotype DX test is not used by many hospitals as it is too expensive

Thousands of women could benefit from a new test for breast cancer which predicts how likely it is that the illness will return.

Those found to be at high risk would be urged to carry on taking preventative drugs for five years and beyond after they have had surgery.

Currently, all women with the most common form of breast cancer – oestrogen positive – are advised to take hormone drugs such as Tamoxifen for up to five years after surgery to remove tumours. But researchers from the Royal Marsden Hospital in London have claimed that a test already available on the NHS could be used in a slightly different way to identify high risk women who would benefit from taking the drugs for longer.

This is the Oncotype DX test, which analyses the genes in a sample of tumour removed after surgery to predict the aggressiveness of the cancer. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3133882/Test-predict-likelihood-breast-cancer-relapse-help-thousands-Women-high-risk-given-drugs-longer-surgery-chemotherapy.html

Breast cancer drug 'boosts survival rates by 40%': Thousands could benefit from two drugs that can eradicate tennis ball-sized tumours in just three months

• Experts hope NHS rationing body will approve drugs soon despite cost
• Medication used for women with particularly aggressive form of cancer 
• HER2-positive is responsible for 13,000 new cases in the UK each year
• In a trial involving 417 women, tumours disappeared in 30% of cases

Thousands of women with breast cancer could benefit from two drugs that stop tumours in their tracks, trials show.

In some cases, treatment was so effective that growths the size of tennis balls were completely eradicated in just three months.

Experts hope NHS rationing body NICE will approve the drugs soon – despite their cost – to enable more women to live longer with the disease and possibly be cured. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3106607/Breast-cancer-drug-boosts-survival-rates-40-Thousands-benefit-two-drugs-eradicate-tennis-ball-sized-tumours-just-three-months.html

Don't give up exercise, breast cancer patients urged: Guidelines urge women to carry on with moderate activity as there is no evidence it worsens symptoms

• In the past women with the disease were told to give up exercise
• Breast cancer is linked to obesity and increasing evidence has found that staying active reduces the chances of the cancer returning
• NICE guidelines say moderate exercise is not curative but can be beneficial

Women with breast cancer are being urged to exercise as there is no evidence it worsens painful symptoms, according to the health watchdog.

Around 10,000 of those diagnosed with the illness each year on to develop lymphoedema, which leads to pain and loss of mobility in arms and legs.

In the past they were urged by doctors to avoid exercise as it was thought to make the condition worse but NICE states this isn't the case. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2675809/Dont-exercise-breast-cancer-patients-urged-Guidelines-urge-women-carry-moderate-activity-no-evidence-worsens-symptoms.html

Eating organic foods does NOTHING to reduce the cancer risk among women, says new study

• Organic food is the choice of many wanting to avoid pesticides
• Oxford University study says the food types have no impact on cancer
• Researchers also found no increased risk of cancers linked to pesticides
• Slight link in reduction of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and organic food - scientists say this could be due to other factors
• Those who only ate organic actually had an increased risk of breast cancer

Eating organic food does nothing to cut a woman's risk of cancer, a new study has found. Women who always ate organic fruit and vegetables over a period of nine years were no less likely to develop one of of 16 types of cancer than those who never ate that type of foods. In fact, scientists actually found there was a small increased risk of breast cancer in those who only ate organic, according to Oxford University's Million Women study. 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2591435/Eating-organic-foods-does-reduce-cancer-risk-women-says-new-study.html

Yoga 'helps beat stress of cancer': Exercises control stress and improve wellbeing of women having radiation treatment

• Stretching helped lessen fatigue, meditation made patients feel healthy
• 191 women with breast cancer assessed at the University of Texas
• Has sparked further research into exact moves in yoga that help

Yoga may improve the lives of breast cancer patients, a study has found. Researchers say practising it can control stress and improve the wellbeing of women having radiation treatment. Simple stretching exercises were able to lessen fatigue, the study showed. But – when stretching was combined with the breathing, meditation and relaxation techniques used in yoga – breast cancer patients also felt healthier and more relaxed.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2572585/Yoga-helps-beat-stress-cancer-Exercises-control-stress-improve-wellbeing-women-having-radiation-treatment.html

Lack of exercise puts UK women near top of cancer league table

• The UK has the tenth highest rate of bowel, breast and womb cancer
• Experts said that poor physical fitness is increasing women’s risk

A lack of exercise means British women are among the most likely in the world to suffer from three forms of cancer. 

The UK has the tenth highest rate of bowel, breast and womb cancer out of more than 180 countries, research has found.

Experts said that poor physical fitness is increasing women’s risk of developing the three forms of the disease, all of which are linked to a lack of exercise.  

‘These figures reflect the sedentary lifestyles of many people in Western countries, with lots of us spending too much time sitting around and not incorporating physical activity into our daily routine,’ said Dr Rachel Thompson of the World Cancer Research Fund.

Britain had 133 cases of bowel, breast and womb cancer per 100,000 people, the statistics showed. To read more, click on: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2534413/Lack-exercise-puts-UK-women-near-cancer-league-table-Britons-likely-suffer-bowel-breast-wombs-forms-disease.html

Taking a daily dose of aspirin could reduce spread of breast cancer

Common painkiller found to suppress two strains of breast cancer

Taking aspirin could slow the spread of breast cancer, a study has found.

Scientists found the painkiller limits the creation of cells which fuel the disease and reduces tumour growth.

Laboratory tests on mice discovered low doses of the drug suppressed the spread of two different strains of the illness.

One of the strains is responsible for 'triple negative' breast cancer, which is resistant to many treatments and affects up to one in five patients.

The researchers at University of Kansas also found that aspirin boosted the effect of tamoxifen, a widely used treatment for the more common form of the disease.

As well as putting preventing the spread of cancer in the lab, the medicine significantly reduced tumour growths in mice. Earlier observations have suggested a protective effect of aspirin against the recurrence of breast cancer, with women who took aspirin to lower their risk of heart attack or stroke less likely to relapse. 

But the reason behind this effect is not yet understood. The researchers found that the drug may interfere with the generation of highly aggressive stem cells by tumours. In the mouse studies, treated cancer cells produced only partial or no stem cells, which are not destroyed by chemotherapy. Continue reading at:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2312555/Taking-daily-dose-aspirin-reduce-spread-breast-cancer-slowing-creation-cells-fuel-disease.html